Bob Hope Airport investigates cause of runway light power outage

A spokesman for Bob Hope Airport said officials are investigating what caused runway lights to lose power late Wednesday night. Several incoming and outbound flights had to be canceled Thursday night when crews were unable to restore power in time.

The north-south runway “edge lights” were switched back on at about 5:30 a.m. Friday. Although the north-south runway is mainly used for departures, incoming flights were also affected, officials said.

Airlines that use Bob Hope Airport include Southwest, United, Jet Blue and Alaska.

Airport spokesman Victor Gill said airfield officials don’t know exactly how many commercial flights were impacted, although some arrivals did get through.

He also said they don’t know how many flights were re-routed once the outage was reported.

“I’m not sure we would be able to recreate that history,” he said.

While airport officials don’t know the reason for the outage, they do know what happened, Gill said. A series of shorts were found in the circuit for the lights that run along the edge of the north-south runway.

The outage occurred late Wednesday night and was reported to the airlines on Thursday morning while repairs were underway, Gill said.

He added that it was a “tough call” for the airlines regarding when to contact passengers because no one knew when the problem would be fixed.

The Los Angeles Times contributed to this story.